Well, the long-awaited final sing-off between Adam Lambert and Kris Allen has come and gone, the voting has completed, and all that waits is the revelation of the 2009 American Idol winner on Wednesday night. For all the hoopla and anticipation, the final performances weren't especially amazing, and the 'coronation song' - the song written for American Idol that will be released as the winner's first sing - was so bad that the judges deftly sidestepped even attempting to judge the singers' performances on that song, instead voicing hope that the voters would base their votes on the contributions each has made throughout the season, rather than the sour note of 'No Boundaries'.
Based on a coin toss last week, Kris elected to go last second, so the competition began by Adam reprising his 'Mad World' from earlier in the season. While it was nice to see his softer side, the performance was not nearly as powerful as the first time he sang it, partly due to the distractions of theatrics injected by Adam..swirling fog, a long black coat, strolling around the stage... While his vocals were good, the overall effect didn't really scream 'Idol winner'. Kris then took the stage, sitting at the piano and singing an earlier favorite, 'Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone'. In the intimate, personable style that has become his trademark this season, Kris easily outperformed Adam, even gaining a bit of a begrudged 'edge' to the first round by jusge Simon Cowell.
For Round two, each had to sing a song selected by the producer. Adam was given Sam Cooke's 'A Change is Gonna Come', and did an excellent job, giving it a gospel-rock-r&b feel that got rave reviews from the judges. Kris had a bit of a more up-tempo but socially relevant song in Marvin Gaye's 'What's Goin' On'. Keeping the background music somewhat minimalist, Allen poured out a powerful rendition, gaining praise from most of the judges, although Cowell wasn't especially impressed with the low-key performance. Simon awarded round two to Lambert.
Finally, each of the contestants had to sing 'No Boundaries', co-written by Idol judge Kara, along with a couple of co-writers... The song SHOULD have been called, 'No Favors', because singing the song did no favors for either contestant. 'No Boundaries' wasn't especially melodic, didn't come across as a powerful ballad, and was clearly difficult to sing..by both singers. While past idol 'Coronation songs' have generally suited one contestant better than the other, and often that singer was the one who emerged as the winner, 'No Boundaries' really didn't suit either singer well. Randy Jackson thought it might have fit Kris Allen's voice a little better, but the key was too high, and he had to strain at the notes frequently. Lambert's version, although it was in his range, just sounded shrill and 'pitchy'. Certainly the worst part of being the American Idol winner this year will be having to release 'No Boundaries' as a single.
For both singers, the judges, probably in deference to the fact that the song was writter by one of their own, chose not to say much about the final performance, instead encouraging voters to remember the contributions of the artists throughout this season as they cast their votes.
All in all, both singers, in their own unique styles, did relatively well, and the competition ended pretty much in a dead heat, with no clear winner. There was probably nothing in either contestant's performance that would sway voters from the opinions they already had about who deserved to win. Since Lambert and Allen finished last week in a virtual tie (with only about 1 million separating them out of nearly 90 million votes cast), this week's vote is likely to be an extremely close one as well.
While I wouldn't wager any large sums of money on it, I do feel Kris Allen performed slightly better than Adam Lambert, and my guess for Wednesday night is that Allen will take the American Idol crown, albeit by the smallest of margins. Both of these performers will have a post-Idol career...the advantage of NOT winning will be never having to sing 'No Boundaries' ever again.
Dan
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